Rats

Rats can cause great damage as food pests. They also contaminate food with excrement and urine, making it inedible. They can also cause material damage to buildings and pipes through their burrowing and gnawing behavior. According to § 2 No. 12 of the Infection Protection Act, rats are considered potential pests of health, as they can transmit pathogens to humans. The risk of pathogens being spread by pests is always considered justified if they are found in risk areas in which hygiene regulations stipulate that the premises must be free of animals in general or of certain animal species, for example food hygiene-relevant areas, communal facilities, facilities for the care of children and young people (public facilities), or if illnesses have already occurred.

The owner of the apartment or property is responsible for controlling rodents on private property. They must ensure that the rodents and the cause are removed.

You can contact the public order office

• if rats are found in public places
• if the polluter is demonstrably a third party
• if the landlord does not fulfill his obligation to remove rats when requested to do so by the tenant.

The public health department is only to be consulted in cases of concrete danger.

1. Ensure that your surroundings are hygienic and clean.
2. Do not leave food and animal feed openly on your property.
3. If you compost yourself, kitchen waste does not belong in the compost, but in the compost. You should give preference to closed composters with a close-meshed metal grid at the bottom.
4. Do not dispose of food waste via the toilet, because disposing of it via the sewer creates ideal living conditions in the sewage pipes.
5. You can make it more difficult for rats to enter buildings by closing all openings and loopholes. Pay attention to sewer shafts and pipes.
6. Please do not feed wild pigeons, as this will attract rats.

If pests are detected and there is a risk that they could spread pathogens, please contact us as soon as possible. Your contact for this is the Offenbach Public Order Office, Tel. 8065-3166.

After checking the report, the respective house or property owner or the Stadtservice will be called upon to take the necessary control measures.

Rats are very territorial and like to colonize the human environment. They can therefore be found anywhere. They live in unused sheds under piles of boards, near animal housing or in sewers, where they can find enough waste to feed on. The rat is omnivorous and a large part of its diet is of animal origin. It jumps, swims and dives well and can therefore penetrate almost anywhere. Rats live in packs and recognize each other by smell. The presence of rats in free, open spaces usually indicates a heavy infestation. Rats usually run along walls and walls. These paths are used again and again, which can be exploited for control purposes.

• As soon as you notice rats or traces of rats or rat droppings on your property, please pay particular attention to the presence of rats. Measures may need to be taken to eliminate the rat infestation.
• Talk to your neighbors to see if they have also noticed rat infestation. A joint control measure may be advisable.
• Seek advice from a pest controller. You can find addresses in the Yellow Pages or on the Internet at www.dsvonline.de
• If you want to put out bait that you have bought yourself, please follow the instructions and precautions printed on the packaging to avoid any danger to yourself, other people, pets and other wild animals. Today, feeding baits containing an anticoagulant are generally used. Only bait boxes may be used for outdoor control. Open baiting is prohibited in order not to endanger humans and animals. Individual animals, especially indoors, can be controlled with rat traps.
• Rats will always return to bait sites as long as they can find something to eat there. The bait is therefore replenished until nothing is eaten. It is therefore necessary to constantly check the bait. At the end of the measure, bait residues must be disposed of.